


A Little More

by akouos



Category: Runaways (Comics), Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Pining, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-11 19:32:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13531089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akouos/pseuds/akouos
Summary: Gert wants to learn how to fight, Chase is a little hesitant.





	A Little More

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a prompt on Tumblr!

“Teach me how to fight.”

That’s what Gert says to him when she comes to him, hands on her hips and that determined glint in her eye.

Chase’s first thought is to say no.

Mostly, because he doesn’t want her to ever have to use it. He always wants someone to be there. Gert doesn’t need to learn to fight because she has Old Lace and Molly. And completely unbeknownst to her – she also has him. Completely.

But he knows that she might need it and Chase knows the reaming out he’d get for his admittedly archaic reasons for protecting her if he ever told her that.

Chase is not oblivious that Gert doesn’t actually  _need_  protecting. This is the girl who in the fourth grade punched a kid right in the stomach just for making fun of Nico. This was the girl who was always the first one to do something – crossing the street, getting her training wheels off, swinging on a rope into the lake at summer camp. This was Gertrude Yorkes. It was Chase that needed protecting.

His life had been tainted by fears. A fear of not being accepted or approved of. The fear that his father did truly want to hurt his own son. The fear of never seeing his parents again, no matter what they ahd done. A fear of losing this girl who made him feel like he was worth something, like he could do anything.

“What?” he asks. Maybe that will at least give him some time to process.

Gert rolls her eyes.

“I want you to teach me how to fight,” she tells him, shifting from what foot onto the other. “Everyone else pretty much has some way of defending themselves-“

“Alex doesn’t. And you have freaking dinosaur, Gert,” he points out. He watches as she picks at the skin around her nails idly. He’s overcome with the feeling to reach out and hold her hands just to get her to stop.

“But what if Old Lace was hurt or something,” she retorts.

Chase sighs and rubs a hand through his hair. If there’s one thing he is, at least he’s good in a fight. There’s an odd feeling in his stomach, like he’s going to be sick if he relates that trait to his father.

_It’s just a consequence of having a mind like his._

Chase doesn’t want a mind like his but at least his fists can help rather than hurt.

“Fine,” he relents, and Gert looks shocked and then smiles.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really,” he smiles back.

“Okay, great, then…” Gert starts, taking in a deep breath and shifting awkwardly. “I’m going to go put something on other than a skirt and we can start?”

Chase  _really_  likes the skirt but bites his tongue and watches her jog up the steps of the crumbling hostel.

Gert returns ten minutes later in a t-shirt and shorts, her ratty thrift-shopped converse still on her feet. He’s cleared a nice space on the dusty faded red carpet by pushing the furniture out of the way. Nico is perched on one of the couches pushed off to the side, reading through some old books and fiddling idly with her staff.

The others were probably all scattered through the abandoned rooms of their new home. They were a family but being in such close proximity sometimes drove them all up the wall. Especially when they couldn’t  _leave_  without risking being found out. It was natural they all needed some time alone.

Oddly enough, Chase and Gert’s alone time usually involved each other in some way.

Chase stands in the middle of the space and sighs with a grin.

“Alright, ready?”

“Are you?” she teases, giving him a few playful punches to his arm.

Chase is glad that their playful bickering is back. She’s warmed considerably towards him since they’d confirmed what had happened between them was just a one-time thing. Chase was still getting over it but he was pretty sure that being back to normal, back to being  _friends_ , was better for him no matter how much it hurt.

“Show me your fighting stance then, Yorkes,” he grins, circling around her. She obeys, giving him a grumpy look. Chase chuckles.

“Arms are too low,” he tells her, tapping at her elbow and ignoring the way touching her makes him feel like he’s been lit on fire. His fingers linger on her skin.

She lets out what sounds like a huff. He’s behind her and he taps the inside of her foot with the tip of his boot. His hand is at her hip to steady her, enough to feel the warmth of her underneath his palm.

“Out a little more.”

If that doesn’t bring back memories… This time, Gert does seem a little phased. She squirms a little but does as he says, purple hair shielding her face from where he’s standing. He circles her, critiquing her stance and taking far too many chances to let his hands linger on her. What was that about getting over it? He can at least have a bit of fun.

He at least tries to ignore Nico smiling to herself behind the pages of her book.


End file.
